Pushing trees over with your tractor.....

foggy

5 year old buck +
I got to thinking about the other tractor thread and safety for new owners or operators. One thing I have absolutely sworn off.....is pushing over dead trees with the tractor and loader. It's definitely taboo......and the result that can all-to-easily happen is what is commonly called a "barber chair".

A barber chair happens when you put the loader bucket against a tree and push forward on the trunk.....the tree leans forward....and then sways back toward the tractor and the swaying weight causes it to snap somewhere above the bucket and come falling right at the tractor operator.....AND SMASH HIM TO SMITEREENS.

Happens all to easy....to too many people.....and happens easier with dead trees (which may have rotten or weak spot(s) along the trunk) than with live trees. But it happens with live trees too. It may look safe....but it is NOT. Even leaning trees that appear quite safe to push on.....can come back to bite you (don't ask me how I know.).

After pushing a few trees that I thought could not possibly barber chair......I have now given up the practice....and count myself lucky. It's one of those things you can "get away" with, and have a few near misses, for a long time.....until you don't. Therefore, your better to resist the temptation and use your chainsaw to fell the tree.

Then too....you may get away with this practice for a while....and then you get braver and braver....until......

Also, a small dead branch flipping loose from the tree as you push on the trunk......can kill you just as dead as the trunk.
 
I agree Foggy... There is no way to "get away" when pushing a tree over.

This video is what I've always considered a 'barber chair':

Thanks,

-John
 
That is why dead trees are called "widowmakers". Push it with a tractor and the whole top can come down on you.
 
Drop the tree from the ground with a saw - that way if it decides it doesn't like your idea of where it should go, you can move.

Then if you want to play tractor games use chain and tug the stump. Cable can whip and cut you if it breaks, so use G70 load rated chain.
 
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